Title :
System design and field-testing of the walk training system
Author :
Tani, Tomoyuki ; Koseki, Atsushi ; Sakai, Akihiko ; Hattori, Shizuko ; Ouchi, Atsushi
Author_Institution :
Mech. Eng. Res. Lab., Hitachi Ltd., Ibaraki, Japan
Abstract :
The ability to walk enhances overall ability of daily life (ADL) of the elderly. Technically aiding the ability to walk is a basic solution for elderly society. A walk training system for the elderly is now under development. It has two parts: a training environment and a patient support element. The training environment comprises a treadmill and a display. The user stands on the treadmill and begins to walk. The endless belts of the treadmill are driven by active impedance control. The user is supported by a two degree-of-freedom manipulator. The force on the support is determined by the displacement of the user from the reference point, so as to maintain the attitude of the user or to support the user´s weight. The walk training system was tested on 30 persons. Its basic function was rated highly
Keywords :
biomechanics; biomedical equipment; force control; manipulators; patient care; position control; velocity control; active impedance control; elderly; field-testing; patient support; training environment; treadmill; two degree-of-freedom manipulator; walk training system; Aging; Belts; Displays; Hospitals; Impedance; Legged locomotion; Position measurement; Prototypes; Senior citizens; System testing;
Conference_Titel :
Intelligent Robots and Systems '96, IROS 96, Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Osaka
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3213-X
DOI :
10.1109/IROS.1996.570697
